Wrestling: North Hunt., Ventresca make HWS history

LOPATCONG TWP. -- North Hunterdon senior Nate Fossett said the goal is to win every match, but it's not every day that you pin to earn a second individual championship and secure your school's first team title.

North celebrates its first HWS team title.

The Lions added another trophy to their collection by outpointing Pope John, which crowned a tournament-best four champs, 224-212.5 to highlight action at the 11th annual Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Phillipsburg High School. The Stateliners, who had the most placewinners with 12, finished third with 198.5 points and one champion in sophomore Nate Zastowny at 160 pounds.

"I really wanted [that second title]," said Fossett, who decked Pope John sophomore Jack Stoll using an arm bar in 2:56 to win at 182. "To get a pin and clinch the team title ... very exciting."

North Hunterdon, ranked No. 5 in the state by the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association, had 10 of 14 wrestlers place in the top six, including freshman Logan Wadle (106) and sophomore Liam Akers (285), who won their first titles. Junior James Holder (170) and senior Ian Gaburo (220), were runners-up for the Lions, who now have 20 HWS champions overall -- second only to P'burg with 25. North also had never won a team title in the former Hunterdon-Warren event before Sussex joined in 2010.

"It was a good day ... fun," said third-year coach Chris Hrunka, whose team will be back here in four days for a crucial Skyland Conference Raritan Division showdown against No. 13 P'burg at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. "That was a good match for Nate. We didn't tell him before he went out there that he needed  to pin [Stoll] to clinch it. Logan Wadle wrestled really well. He gave up two points [on a takedown to previously unbeaten Shane Nelson of Kittatinny in a 9-3 win] and never stopped wrestling. He's an impressive wrestler."

Pope John senior Eddie Ventresca also made history by becoming just the second wrestler to win four titles -- joining former teammate JoJo Aragona (2016-19) -- as the returning state champion and Virginia Tech commit poured it on late for an impressive 13-4 major of High Point senior Devon Liebl at 126 pounds.

"It's definitely cool," said Ventresca of joining the four-title club. "JoJo and I grew up together and I saw him do it. It was definitely one of my goals, but not the top goal. That's for sure."

Overall, it was a fine day for Sussex County, which crowned nine champions, including High Point ace Billy Talmadge, who won in his first finals appearance after logging a pair of third-place finishes in 2017 and '18. Talmadge earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award for his workmanlike 7-2 win over Sparta senior Garrett Stewart, a 2019 champion, in a battle of unbeaten wrestlers.

Sussex beat

Ventresca was joined in the winner's circle by teammates Kaya Sement (145), a two-time champion and three-time finalist, along with first-time winners Matthew Garcia (152), a senior, and junior Shane Percelay (120).

Liebl, a three-time placewinner and first-time finalist, hung tough through two periods before Ventresca racked up four takedowns in the third to earn the major and an extra team point, which seemed big at the time.

"It's one to remember. Only two people have done it, and from the same school," Ventresca said. "[Liebl] was strong and was giving me a little trouble. My goal is make my opponent break and I felt him break in the third period."

Sparta just missed out on making some program history as Garrett Stewart was denied in his bid to become the Spartans' first two-time champion. However, brothers Cooper (113) and Spencer (132) picked up the slack by winning their first titles.

Cooper Stewart, a senior, stayed unbeaten and earned his 100th career victory with a 6-4 decision over Lenape Valley sophomore, while junior Spencer Stewart, a returning state medalist, converted a third-period takedown for a 3-0 win over Phillipsburg sophomore Joey Innamorato -- giving him the opportunity next year to become Sparta's first repeat champ.

"I've wrestled the No. 1 kids in the state here in the past," said Spencer Stewart, who was derailed in his previous appearances with losses to Sement (4-1 in 2018 quarterfinals at 120) and Ventresca (14-4 in last year's final at 120). "This feels really good. I'm just relieved that I did it. Next year [I'm winning another title]. One hundred percent."

Kittatinny scored a somewhat surprising fifth-place finish as senior Robert Bruce busted the 195-pound bracket with his run to the title as the No. 4 seed. Bruce, who avenged a wild 11-9 loss two days earlier to Phillipsburg's Jacob Wicks with a 46-second pin in their semifinal rematch, decked Delaware Valley senior Zach Zuchowski, a No. 10 seed, in the final in 1:47.

As expected, junior Jackson Crawn won his first title at 220 with a 3-2 win over North Hunterdon's Ian Gaburo, as the Cougars had five medal winners in all.

Here and there

It was a relatively quiet day on the Warren County side as Phillipsburg kept ran its streak of at least one champ to 10 straight tournaments when Nate Zastowny hit a shin whizzer with 46 seconds left in the third period to break open what had become a tight match against Pope John senior Connor Fritsch. Zastowny scored a 22-7 technical fall victory when Fritsch was hit for his second penalty point. The Lions subsequently lost a team point after the bout for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"I try to hit [that move] a lot," said Zastowny, a talented sophomore who missed most of his freshman season with a collar bone/shoulder injury.

The 'Liners also had three third-place finishers in sophomore James Day (113), Wicks and junior Gage Horvath (220).

The tournament was extremely top heavy as North Hunterdon and Pope John led the way with eight in the semifinals, followed by P'burg with six. Once again, some big names were missing, including High Point sophomore Brian Soldano, the No. 1 seed at 160 who was scratched due to an illness. One of the state's best at the weight class, Soldano has yet to appear at HWS after being held out last year for match limits.

In all, Hunterdon County had four champions as Hunterdon Central junior Norman Cella won his first title by pinning North's James Holder in 3:48. The fall was a bit stunning considering how well Holder (13-3) had been wrestling this season. He had some big wins to help the Lions win the Henry Boresch Duals on Jan. 4.

Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament results

Team standings: 1. North Hunterdon (NH) 224; 2. Pope John (PJ) 212.5; 3. Phillipsburg (P) 198.5; 4. Hunterdon Central (HC) 136.5; 5. Kittatinny (K) 133; 6. Delaware Valley (DV) 108; 7. Sparta (S) 106; 8. High Point (HP) 104; 9. Newton (N) 91; 10. Warren Hills (WH) 87; 11. Lenape Valley (LV) 74.5; 12. North Warren (NW) 70; 13. Belvidere (B) 65; 14. Hackettstown (Ha) 35; 15. Hopatcong (Ho) 31; 16. Voorhees (Vo) 28; 17. Vernon (Ve) 17; 18. Wallkill Valley (WV) 0.

Placewinners by school

Phillipsburg 1+1+3+1+4+2=12; North Hunterdon 3+2+3+0+0+2=10; Pope John 4+2+0+2+1+0=9; High Point 1+1+0+0+3+1=6; Hunterdon Central 1+1+1+1+0+2=6; Delaware Valley 0+1+1+3+0+0=5; Kittatinny 2+1+2+0+0+0=5; Newton 0+1+0+1+1+2=5; Warren Hills 0+1+0+0+3+1=5; Belvidere 0+0+1+1+0+2=4; Lenape Valley 0+2+0+2+0+0=4; North Warren 0+0+2+0+1+1=4; Sparta 2+1+0+1+0+0=4; Hopatcong 0+0+0+1+0+1=2; Hackettstown 0+0+1+0+0+0=1; Voorhees 0+0+0+0+1+0=1; Vernon 0+0+0+1+0+0=1; Wallkill Valley 0+0+0+0+0+0=0.

Championships

106 -- 3-Fr. Logan Wadle (16-2), NH, d. 5-So. Shane Nelson (11-1), K, 9-3.
113 -- 1-Sr. Cooper Stewart (16-0), S, d. 2-So. Daniel Haws (12-3), LV, 6-4.
120 -- 1-Jr. Shane Percelay (11-4), PJ, d. 2-Jr. Nathan Fitt (14-2), N, 4-2.

126 -- 1-Sr. Eddie Ventresca (13-1), PJ, md. 2-Sr. Devon Liebl (14-3), HP, 13-4.

132 -- 1-Jr. Spencer Stewart (16-0), S, d. 2-So. Joey Innamorato (12-5), P, 3-0.
138 -- 1-Sr. Billy Talmadge (17-0), HP, d. 2-Sr. Garrett Stewart (15-1), S, 7-2.
145 -- 1-Sr. Kaya Sement (9-1), PJ, d. 2-Jr. Colton Washleski (12-3), HC, 6-1.

152 -- 1-Sr. Matthew Garcia (10-2), PJ, d. 3-So. Stephen Malia (15-2), WH, 12-5.

160 -- 7-So. Nate Zastowny (16-4), P, tf. 1-Sr. Connor Fritsch (6-5), PJ, 22-7, 5:59.
170 -- 1-Jr. Norman Cella (13-2), HC, p. 3-Jr. James Holder (13-3), NH, 3:48.

182 -- 1-Sr. Nate Fossett (14-2), NH, p. 11-So. Jack Stoll (6-5), PJ, 2:56.

195 -- 4-Sr. Robert Bruce (9-4), K, p. 10-Sr. Zach Zuchowski (13-5), DV, 1:47.
220 -- 1-Jr. Jackson Crawn (11-1), K, d. 2-Sr. Ian Gaburo (12-1), NH, 3-2.
285 -- 2-So. Liam Akers (15-1), NH, p. 5-Sr. Ryan Hall (14-1), LV, 5:23.
Outstanding Wrestler Award -- Billy Talmadge, High Point.
Note: Pope John had one team point deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct after 160.

Third-place consolations

106 -- 1-Jr. Hunter Lensi (12-3), B, p. 2-Sr. Derek Schepens (13-7), DV, 1:05.

113 -- 3-So. James Day (15-5), P, md. 4-So. Robert Groogan (12-7), DV, 10-0.

120 -- 3-Jr. Frank DiEsso (14-3), NH, d. 5-So. Nick Canonica (7-5), HC, 5-3.

126 -- 4-Sr. Gage Crater (15-3), DV, d. 3-Jr. Logan Maczko (9-4), P, 8-6.

132 -- 4-Jr. Connor Quinn (12-4), NH, md. 6-So. Collin Neal (3-8), PJ, 14-1.

138 -- 4-So. Tanner Peake (12-4), HC, d. 3-Sr. Eric Falleni (13-2), LV, 3-1.
145 -- 3-Sr. Evan Klimas (14-2), NH, p. 5-So. Nick Hwang (10-6), S, 4:32.

152 -- 4-Sr. Brandon Casey (12-4), NW, d. 2-Sr. Sean Cranmer (10-7), Ho, 3-1 SV.

160 -- 6-Sr. Rob Fletcher (12-3), NW, p. 4-So. Melkart Abou-Jaoude (5-7), N, 3:03.
170 -- 4-Sr. Alejandro Castro (11-4), Ha, d. 2-Jr. Shane Exley (10-5), B, 9-4.

182 -- 4-So. Brycen Mafaro (10-3), K, forfeit, 2-Sr. John Alvarez (9-2), Ve.

195 -- 1-Sr. Jacob Wicks (13-7), P, d. 3-Sr. Justin Palumbo (4-6), LV, 7-2.
220 -- 3-Jr. Gage Horvath (12-6), P, d. 4-Sr. Cole Zydel (6-5), PJ, 10-6.
285 -- 8-So. Ty Eldred (8-5), K, forfeit, 6-Sr. Ryan Sutter (12-3), DV.

Fifth-place consolations

106 -- 13-Fr. Roman Citro (5-4), HP, md. 11-Fr. Henry Wilkinson (5-9), HC, 14-3.
113 -- 9-So. Charles Antcliff (9-6), HP, d. 6-So. Patrick Horvath (11-3), B, 7-0.
120 -- 4-Sr. Josh Rich (6-4), Vo, d. 11-So. Hakeem Ransdell (5-8), P, 6-2.
126 -- 5-So. Jared Lee (14-3), WH, p. 6-Fr. Daniel Delusant (7-7), NH, 3:10.
132 -- 5-Sr. Logan Nauta (13-3), WH, d. 3-Jr. Frank Mastroeni (8-6), Ho, 5-1.
138 -- 5-Jr. JoJo Lotruglio (12-4), N, d. 6-Sr. Drew Doscher (10-3), NH, 10-4.
145 -- 4-Sr. Ben Lilly (14-2), NW, d. 11-Sr. Jared Kukor (7-8), P, 5-4.
152 -- 8-So. Matt D'Onofrio (8-9), P, md. 7-So. Noah Ripley (7-9), HP, 14-6.
160 -- 3-So. Owen Frizzell (11-4), WH, p. 8-Sr. John Rieche (4-7), HC, 3:42.
170 -- 7-Sr. Denny Perez (7-7), P, p. 8-Sr. Trevor Aughenbaugh (5-4), N, :39.
182 -- 5-So. David Pierson (11-7), P, d. 3-Sr. Julian Sibblies (11-5), N, 1-0.
195 -- 5-So. Peter Delaportas (5-3), PJ, p. 6-Sr. Liam Tipton (9-6), B, :52.
220 -- 7-Jr. Justin Klass (8-7), HP, d. 8-Jr. Dylan Lobycz (10-6), NW, 5-0.
285 -- 1-Sr. Cody Cruts (12-5), P, forfeit, 3-So. Tyler McCatharn (13-2), WH.